National Committee of the Reform Party of the United States v. Democratic National Committee

This action raises a number of challenges to the two principal federal campaign finance laws: the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (“FECA”), 2 U.S.C. §§ 431-55 , which limits contributions to and spending on federal election campaigns, and the Presidential Election Campaign Fund Act (the “Fund Act”), 26 U.S.C. §§ 9001-13 , which funds presidential campaigns according to the percentage of the vote their parties received in the prior election. Plaintiffs, collectively referred to as the “Reform Party,” are the National Committee of the Reform Party, its 1996 Presidential Campaign committees, the Reform Party of California, and John Place, a voter who supported the Reform Party presidential candidate in 1996. Defendants are the Democratic and Republican National Committees for 1996, the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns, the Democratic and Republican State Central Committees of California, and the Federal *363 Election Commission (the “FEC” or the “Commission”).

The Reform Party’s claims fall into three categories. First, it seeks damages from the Democratic and Republican defendants under California common and statutory law, federal common law, and FECA. The…